A/N: So one scene of this wouldn't get out of my head, so I wrote it down and it developed into this. Warning: Not for anyone who minds a little passionate Dasey, I have been told in the past that some of my scenes can get a little intense (even thought nothing gets M, if you catch my drift.) So please enjoy, and if you love me (or hate me) feel free to leave me a long REVIEW!!
It's About Time
Derek angrily pushed Casey into his room, ignoring her protests.
"Why the hell did you do that?" Derek said after slamming the door behind him.
"What exactly did I do?" she asked innocently, but with anger in her own voice.
His eyes blazed dangerously. "You know what you did. You completely ruined my date and I want to know why, I want to know the truth."
"Oh please Derek, you ruined your date on your own, I just happened to be there. I didn't make you start fighting with me and I certainly didn't make you spill my drink on your precious date," she said coldly.
"Yes you did and you know it! And you are the one who spilled coke on Megan and I want to know why," he said, his eyes staring into hers.
"Hey I didn't mean to do that. I wasn't trying to ruin your date, you just really pissed me off yesterday and I wanted to get back at you," she lied unconvincingly.
"You're lying," he said accusingly.
Her eyes grew wide as saucers. "No I'm not," she replied quickly but knew he didn't believe her.
"This was way different than vengeance, you were acting really strange. Tell me the truth, Casey," he said it so strongly that she finally snapped.
"Oh yeah, I tell you the truth and then you come away with a great little story of the mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you while I am left hurt by you again!" she wasn't thinking straight, the filter on her words seemed to be lost.
"With the nerve to…wait, what? Adore me?" he didn't seem to be mocking her, he just looked shocked.
"Forget it," she said softly and turned away from him but he caught her arm before she could walk away.
She finally turned back to look at him and the sadness in her expression caught him off guard and his grip on her slackened. Derek's voice was pained as he spoke again.
"When…I would never...when have I ever hurt you?"
Casey ripped her arm away from his grasp. "Always. Just by being here, being you, being everything I…everything I can never have. Go ahead, laugh it up, must be a big ego boost to know that no one can resist your patented charm."
She spat the last word like it was a curse and then turned and stormed from the room and from the house altogether before he could think of anything to say to stop her.
Derek tried to follow after her but he was too delayed in his reaction. By the time he even got down the stairs she had taken the car and gone. Setting out on foot he tried to track her down but couldn't find her anywhere, so he just returned home to wait. She didn't return until much later that night. The family wasn't worried about her whereabouts since she was always so responsible, but Derek fidgeted all through dinner and winced when it was time to clear the table and she still wasn't home.
When she did return she ignored him as he tried to follow her up to her room. It was around nine and a school night so the younger kids were already in bed so Derek was confident that they would be able to talk in private. If he could get her to speak to him again that is.
He was plotting the different ways he could trick her into entering the conversation with him as he continued to follow her up the stairs. But he was thrown for a loop when she turned left at the top of the stairs instead of right, going directly into his bedroom. When she got inside she abruptly turned to face him.
"Alright, so I have been doing a lot of thinking and I guess maybe I was wrong to be so hard on you when really the one I am mad at is me," she said, and then added when he looked about to argue, "oh, don't get me wrong, I am ridiculously mad at you too, but that is only half your fault."
He was officially caught off guard, both by her words and her decision to speak to him at all. He wasn't quite sure what she was trying to say to him so he didn't respond, just stood and looked at her blankly. But she didn't seem to need any input from him, she just continued speaking.
"What I am trying to say is that since we are going to have to live together for at least another year we really have to just put this behind us. I want you to just forget everything that has happened today and everything that I said. We can just go back to pretending to hate each other. Actually, I guess you probably aren't pretending but that is really beside the point."
Now Derek was officially lost. "What are you trying to say Casey? Are you saying…did you mean what you said earlier? About adoring me?" he said the last part tentatively, the words felt odd to say.
She looked up at him in confusion; apparently this was not how she thought the conversation would be going. The tone of his voice alone was almost more than she could handle, it was so soft and worried like he was truly upset.
"No. I mean, yes, but that is what I am saying, I am just going to forget about it and I need you to pretend that I never made a giant fool of myself."
Derek smiled his devilish smile. "So…do I have to forget the entire time I've known you because you pretty much started making a fool of yourself the moment I met you."
She smacked his arm playfully, trying to stay serious. God, it was so hard for her to think when he was around. Why did he have to make it so hard for her to stay mad at him? But she had taken most of the night trying to think of what to say to him so she wasn't about to let herself get distracted. But that smirk of his, the way he was looking at her…she tried to ignore how absolutely irresistible he looked. Despite the joking his expression suddenly turned serious.
"Casey, I don't want to forget about this, I mean, I need to know exactly what you meant. Do you think of me as a brother?" he asked.
"Derek, what are you talking about? Of course I don't think of you as a brother but please, I really just want to forget this whole thing. I know you are just trying to be nice or something but I really-"
He cut her off. "I would never hurt you, you know, not on purpose. I just…I don't really know how to deal with this situation and I never dreamed that you, ok well I did dream it but I never thought you would actually…Wait, just so I get this right, how exactly do you feel about me?"
Casey was ridiculously confused. She had never seen Derek look so sincere and…insecure? That couldn't be right, this was The Derek Venturi she was talking about…and yet…But she was even more confused because he wasn't mocking her or acting uncomfortable. For the briefest moment she wondered if it were possible that he actually did have feelings for her. She wavered in her resolve that he hated her, and this is why she answered his question truthfully.
"How do I feel about you? I feel everything about you. You are the only thing that makes me angry, the only one who can really make me sad, I'm only ever happy because of something you did, and you're the only one who has enough of me to break my heart. It doesn't matter if a thousand people tell me I'm beautiful if I haven't heard it from you. I don't know if I've had a good day until I come home to you. And I am so tied up in loving you that nothing else even matters anymore except the fact that you aren't mine and that is how you hurt me because I know you will never feel the same way about me," she said it all quickly and in one breath, as if confessing to a major sin.
Derek looked at her in shock for just a moment as if testing the merits of her words. But then he understood that she was telling the truth. And not being a man of words himself he opted for action.
Casey barely had time to register the feel of Derek's lips on hers before her body responded and she was kissing him back, hard. Finally she let go of thought all together since her mind was pretty much exploding anyway and just gave into her desire. She tangled one hand in that soft chestnut hair she had always wanted to touch and ran the other one down his back making him shake.
Derek was holding her so tightly he was practically holding her up off the ground and yet she still felt the need to be closer to him. They kissed frantically and fiercely, both trying to get as much from the moment as possible before the other came to their senses. But they slowed down when they were sure it would last, taking their time and if anything kissing more passionately. When Casey moved her lips to his throat Derek said something he never imagined he would in this situation.
"We need to stop," he said huskily and quietly, almost hoping she wouldn't hear.
"No we don't," she said as she moved her hands to the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off him before trailing more kisses down his neck. For a while he couldn't remember why it had to stop, but he did.
"Casey," he said breathlessly when he had his mouth free again, "this isn't you, you don't rush in like this…" he trailed off, unable to think coherently anymore as she had just removed her shirt and was wearing a lacy black bra.
He claimed her mouth with his again and lost himself to kissing her. They scrambled across the room and he pulled her onto his bed. After a moment she abruptly pulled away from him.
"Dammit, you're right, we have to stop," she said, climbing off of him and sitting on the edge of the bed.
He growled in frustration as he sat next to her and used all of his self control not to grab her and kiss her senseless once again. She scooted away from him a bit, rather unsure of her own self control at the moment. Noticing their mutual state of half-dress Casey retrieved her shirt and put it on, causing Derek to groan.
"Must you?" he asked and she smiled.
"Hey, you were the one who said we needed to slow things down," she replied and he rolled his eyes.
"Only because I am an amazingly wonderful gentleman who would never want you to do anything you weren't ready for," he said arrogantly but she smiled at him anyway.
"See, I knew you were a great guy," she said.
"No, no I am not," he said defensively as she joined him on the bed once more, "But either way I guess we should talk." He made a face at the last word.
"Oh yeah, definitely. So is it safe to assume that you have feelings for me too?" Casey asked.
"Feelings for you? Nah, I just think you are hot," Derek joked, but continued when she glared. "Ok, fine, maybe I am completely in love with you but that doesn't make me any less…well, me."
She sighed in relief. "Ok, so you are I have feelings for each other, what do we do now?"
He looked at her suggestively. "I can think of something to do…"
"Der-ek! We need to talk seriously about this. What are our parents going to say? I mean, oh my gosh, what if they want to send one of us away or something!" she was in a complete panic by now.
"They wouldn't dare, I am never going to be away from you again," he put an arm around her possessively.
"That is sweet and all but we need to examine all the possible outcomes. I mean, how will this affect our little siblings and what about our classmates? We need to think this through logically before we proceed further."
Derek recognized what he called her 'list making' tone of voice and had to think of a way to head her off before she started designing pie charts to overanalyze their ridiculously new relationship. The last thing he needed was her talking herself out of the best thing that ever happened to him.
"Casey, why don't we just sit our parents down and tell them that we are together and they have to deal, same with our friends. As for our siblings, Lizzie and Edwin have done so much research on us they probably knew this was going to happen before we even thought about it. Marti just wants everyone to be happy and it is not like my rules on PDA are going to change," she looked ready to protest but he held up a hand, "As for everyone else, if they are fine with it then great but if not who cares? Look, I am not saying this is going to be easy, I just know that it's not like we can just go back to being step-siblings."
"It's going to be a little weird for a while," she said, feeling as though it was a massive understatement but willing to surrender to his thinking.
They lay together just resting in Derek's bed for a long time. It wasn't until the sun was almost to come up that Casey crept back to her room simply to avoid being walked in on in bed with Derek. That would definitely not help their cause.
"Derek, Casey, can we please just get to whatever it is you want to talk about?" Nora said impatiently.
"Yeah, can we?" Derek asked Casey, who had been pacing the room for the last fifteen minutes while Derek, George and Nora sat in impatient silence.
She sighed one more time and sat down across from her mom. "Ok," she sighed and then said again, "Ok."
Derek made an impatient noise. "Casey, why don't we just tell them straight up" she interrupted him with a shush.
"Derek, I am getting there, just let me organize my thoughts," she said angrily.
"Fine, but let's not take all day here, I think your thoughts should be pretty much in order by now," he replied and she silenced him with a stony glare.
"So I, we, Derek and I that is, we wanted to talk to you today because…" she stopped and looked at Derek miserably for help.
"Oh, geez, Casey. Dad, Nora, the two of us have finally come to our senses and realized that we are completely crazy about each other, so now we are going to date. That is how it is, so now would be a good time to start dealing with it," he leaned back comfortably in his chair as if everything was settled, whereas Casey sent him an angry look and then waited nervously for their parents to speak.
The shocked silence was a lot shorter then she had expected, especially since no yelling followed as she had anticipated.
"Well, it is not like we didn't see this as a possibility. I mean, we certainly didn't expect this or anything especially with the way you two treat each other… But I suppose if you feel that strongly about it we can't stand in your way," Nora said and George looked at her strangely.
"Excuse me Nora? We certainly can stand in their way! Derek, you are moving in with your mother, that is final. How long has this been going on? I never expected this even from you Derek, messing with Casey's feelings like this."
"George!" Casey and Nora chided simultaneously, but it was Derek who stood from his chair with an angry look on his face.
"Dad, I never expected you to react like this. I would never mess with her feelings; I am in love with Casey. If you want to send me away then that is fine, but you can't keep us from seeing one another," he said angrily.
"Derek, think about it, Casey is smart and dedicated, she is going to do something with his life. She doesn't need someone like you getting in the way of that," George said calmly, earning another shocked look from Nora.
"What, you don't think I am good enough for Casey?" Derek asked incredulously.
"I love you son, but I know what kind of a guy you are. So I'm sorry, but no, I don't."
"George, that is way out of line!" Nora said.
"No, Nora, he's right. I am just a screw-up, I have nothing to offer her," Derek said sadly.
"Enough, all of you! This is absolutely ridiculous! Derek, shut up, you know exactly how wonderful you are. And George, while I appreciate your concern I have to say that maybe you don't know your son as well as you think. He is nothing but good for me, and don't you think maybe I will be good for him too?" Casey surprised everyone with the forcefulness of her speech.
"Well…" George looked from Derek and Casey's unwavering expressions to his wife's stern one. "Fine, Derek stays, and while it is certainly going to take some getting used to and I am in no way saying that I am ok with this…" he shrugged his shoulders in consent.
"Oh, thank you George, you won't regret this!" Casey said excitedly and hugged him.
"We still have to set some ground rules, honey," Nora said.
"Right, of course," Casey said, sitting back down happily since it was obvious they were in the clear.
"First, although I doubt this will be a problem anyway, no public displays of affection around the house. Second, you better know what you are getting into because we are not putting the family through a relationship and a breakup between you two. Third, I don't want this getting in the way of your schoolwork or friendships or anything like that. Fourth, you are the ones who get to explain this to your siblings because I am so not taking that job. Finally, no…ahem, extracurricular nightly activities because I am not above locking both your doors from the outside. Oh, and I certainly better not ever walk in on…anything if you want to keep your doors at all," Nora finished seriously.
Casey laughed and Derek said no problem with a wink. Their parents left them to prepare for their meeting with their friends who would be there any second.
"Wow, that went pretty much exactly opposite than I thought it would," Derek said.
"I know, my mom was really cool about it," Casey replied.
"Yeah, and my dad was pretty…brutal," he said with a laugh, just as the doorbell rang. "Ready for round two?"
She widened her eyes at him with a shrug as she answered the door.
"Dude, it's about time!" Sam said with a smile after they told them (after another ten minutes of pacing from Casey.)
"Seriously? You guys are ok with this?" Casey asked, looking nervously at Emily. "I mean, you had that crush…"
Emily laughed. "Please, Casey, I am with Sheldon now. Plus, I have kissed Derek before, and no offense but there was just NO chemistry," she smiled at Derek and he laughed in agreement. "You two however…you have so much chemistry I kept expecting one of your fights to end with you just going at it right there on the floor."
"Em! Geez, don't be so graphic," Casey said, blushing.
"You get my point. I am just saying, anyone who knows you like we do saw this coming forever ago," Emily said and Sam nodded in agreement.
"So…any idea how the rest of the school is going to take it?" Casey asked tentatively.
"Oh, it is going to be pandemonium. People are going to go crazy seriously; you are not going to know what hit you!" Emily said with a smile and Casey groaned.
"Come on Case, aren't I worth a little drama at school?" Derek asked with a smirk. He knew the answer.
"You are so humble Derek, what's next, a ten foot statue of yourself?" Casey mocked.
"No way, with Klutzilla around that would be a major safety hazard," he countered and they started into a playful argument.
Sam and Emily rolled their eyes and left. On the way out the door Sam laughed and muttered "some things never change."
At around one in the morning Casey snuck across the hall to Derek's room and crawled into bed with him.
"Hey there, beautiful," he said sleepily as he pulled her closer to him.
"So that went better than expected today. I mean, besides that little issue with your dad everyone took it great. And even Edwin, Lizzie and Marti reacted exactly as you said they would," she said, snuggling up to him.
"School tomorrow should be fun," he said with a smile.
"Ugh, I don't want to think about it. Of course, I get to be the one who is dating the coolest guy in school, so that won't be too bad," she said.
"Oh man, I can't imagine what this is going to do to my reputation," he said with a groan, but then quickly amended, "but of course it is completely worth it."
"Why are you only sweet when no one else is around? Then I have no proof!" she whined and he silenced her with a soft kiss. She sighed as he pulled away.
"I guess I should go, we don't want to break the rules after one day," she tried to get up but he held on to her.
"Oh, come on, we aren't doing anything naughty," he said, kissing her again mischievously.
"Yeah, and I am sure mom and George will believe us when they find us in the morning in the same bed," she voiced reasonably.
"Alright, I guess that's true," he consented and released her.
Casey returned to her own room rather reluctantly. She snuggled into her bed and thought about how much her life had changed in a day and a half, as well as what lay ahead of her tomorrow. But she knew that no matter what happened she wouldn't be facing it alone. She had Derek, and that was all she would ever need.
A/N: Casey is kind of OOC, and Derek probably is too but I enjoyed it anyway lol. I do not own Life with Derek or the Taylor Swift songs "Cold as You" or "Teardrops on my Guitar" which is almost irrelevant except that I used one lyric from each of these songs in my dialogue (did you spot them? no infringement intended!) Hope you enjoyed, please press the happy button and REVIEW!!